Handmade posters held high in the crisp morning air, faint chants of “women’s rights are people’s rights,” float through the crowd as cars drive past honking, prompting loud cheers from the crowd of students. On Tuesday, January 21, 2025, students from Truckee High School advocated for women’s rights and showcased the importance of their voice. The event took place on Donner Pass Rd. in front of Truckee High.
The planning for the event started weeks ago in the wake of the presidential election, by the People Organized for Women’s Empowerment and Respect (POWER) Club.
“We started organizing a protest about reproductive rights after the switchover of our nation’s presidency yesterday. A lot of girls at our school have expressed their concerns with women’s rights and healthcare,” one of the organizers of the protest, Janya Palmer, said. She stood alongside other POWER Club Presidents Margaret Cooke, Bryn Kidd and India Welch in the crowd, who worked hard to make the event possible.
“In the United States as a whole, and with the very recent overturning of Roe v. Wade, we just felt that it was important to take action in some way and at least express our concerns as a school population,” Palmer continued.
Not just girls showed up for the protest, senior Donovan Martin said he was participating “because I have a sister and a mother that I care about.”
Jessica Jacobs, POWER Club advisor and teacher at THS, said, “Ultimately after the election and the fact that President Trump is a convicted rapist, [the club] felt strongly about doing something to make their voices heard. What was compromised was a student walkout because the club was trying to figure out how to be effective.” She continues, “We connected with Truckee High School Principal Mr. John Neuberger and Superintendent Kerstain Kramer, to see what limitations [the club] had, and they helped us set it up.”
Jacobs finishes by saying, “It’s not political in the sense that it’s directed against President Trump. It’s more against the idea that our government is starting to limit the rights of women and that is what’s concerning many young women in the United States.”
The political and social climate that the world is about to enter is full of uncertainty, and there are so many concerned young people. The small action of a walkout makes it clear that what is happening in the country does matter to the next generation. Young people are the future.
